Public Eye

Former Rep. Doug Bosco has tentatively thrown his hat into the ring, sort of, for the North Coast's 1st Assembly District. Last week, Bosco filed a notice of intention that he may run for the old post that he held from 1978 to 1982 before his stint in Congress. That's giving the shivering fits to progressive Democrats in the county, who speak about Bosco as though he's just to the right of Attila the Hun because of his conservative stance on the economy and the environment. With state Assemblyman Dan Hauser stepping down in 1996 because of term limits, there is no incumbent in the race. Meanwhile, Hauser has decided not to enter the conga line of Demos moseying up for a chance to unseat Rep. Frank Riggs, R-Windsor, though a spokesperson for his office says she isn't ruling out the possibility that Hauser will pursue federal office sometime in the future.

Time of the Sign

What is a motel sign worth? In one instance, a lot of county time. The management of the Holiday Inn in Bodega Bay discovered that the sign outside the establishment had never been formally approved, even though it has been in use for several years. So they asked that it be approved. No, said the county Design Review Board, how about a nice nautical, carved wooden sign instead? "That would be prohibitively expensive," said company representative John Knott, and besides they need the internal illumination to combat the fog, and the "standard corporate sign" for customer recognition. So it was appealed to the county Planning Commission. They voted 5-0 against the sign. Now the motel company is preparing to take the case directly before the Board of Supervisors, seeking redress because other businesses in Bodega Bay, including a competing hotel, use the same type of signs. "It's quite a discreet sign," says motel manager Hamish Scotts Knight. "It's all a storm in a teacup, really."

English as a 1st Language

That's one of the worst pieces of syntax I've ever seen," grumbled Supervisor Mike Cale, alluding to an ill-turned phrase in a series of transportation policies the board was reviewing. The errant sentence suggested that local governments should "encourage Caltrans to improve Highway 101 south of Petaluma in order to eliminate direct vehicle access." Taken literally, that would certainly ease congestion on the highway, but Cale and his colleagues agreed that was not exactly what the writer had in mind.

Missed Media

When Jeffery Gordon of Seatac, Wash., won a free Snapple vending machine for a year, he was featured in a nationally aired television commercial. But when 11-year-old Robin Burger of Petaluma claimed the same prize last Friday, "the media stayed away in droves," reports her father, attorney Richard Burger. The 550-pound vending machine, which required a four-man crew to unload, was far too big to set up in the house and has now taken up residence in the family garage, where it will dispense free bottles on demand for the next 51 weeks. But even without cameras and reporters, the news moved quickly on the neighborhood grapevine. "That day after school, the doorbell started to ring," Dad recalls, and a major youthful party is coming up this weekend, although "we're still negotiating over the length of the guest list."